Coercion Giftwrapped (es#161)

From: Dean Ritz
Series: Ethically Speaking
Length: 02:00

When is a gift philanthropy, and when is it coercion? Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: Coercion Giftwrapped (es#161)
From: Dean Ritz

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Piece Description

See plaintext transcript.

Transcript

DEAN: This is Ethically Speaking with Dean Ritz and Deni Elliott

DENI: Former first lady, Barbara Bush donated funds to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund for the Houston Independent School District.

DEAN: That?s nice. It has to be expensive to absorb so many extra students among the hurricane evacuees.

DENI: Well, this donation helps more than just the students. Mrs. Bush stipulated that some undisclosed portion of the donation be used to buy educational software from a company, Ignite Learning, which happens to be owned by her son, Neil.

DEAN: That might be a problem. Ethically speaking, it is a conflict of interest when you make decisions that should benefit the public but instead benefit your own self interest. Isn?t this illegal?

DENI: There are laws that prohibit public agencies from awarding contracts to officials? family members, but this is a private donation, not a c...
Read the full transcript